Women’s gymnastics

NIU women’s gymnastics coach Bobbie Cesarek doesn’t ask for much.

She expects her Huskie gymnasts to put forth their best efforts whenever they compete. From that perspective, Cesarek was quite pleased with NIU’s performance Saturday at Iowa State. From the scoreboard perspective, Cesarek was less than thrilled as the Cyclones finished ahead in a 177.50-175.85 contest. Iowa State evened its ledger at 2-2 while NIU went to 5-2 after winning a triangular the previous week.

“I think we performed with consistency throughout the meet and we were consistent with our best efforts of the past, if not better,” Cesarek said. “I really thought we were consistent and clean. It’s hard to understand, it doesn’t add up.”

Neither did the scores for the Huskies as Iowa State gymnasts were able to claim blue ribbons for three of the four individual events. Martha Unger copped NIU’s lone first-place effort with a 9.05 on the balance beam en route to tying for the all-around crown with ISU’s Deb Bryant, who also scored 36.10 for four events.

Men’s tennis

The NIU men’s netters were 6-3 victims Saturday at Michigan State and then were 6-3 winners Sunday at Eastern Michigan. The Huskies conclude a three-match Michigan road trip today with a contest at Michigan.

In the MSU meeting, the Spartans wrapped up the victory by winning 5-of-6 singles contests. At Eastern Michigan, the Huskies jumped to a 2-1 lead as the match began with doubles competition. From there, NIU won 4-of-6 singles contests to stand 9-6 on the year.

“I was pleased to see our doubles play continue to be a strong point,” coach Carl Neufeld said. “I thought Tim Halligan also played well despite a tough opponent and some blisters.”

Women’s tennis

The women’s tennis team fared worse, as the Huskies dropped a pair of 8-1 matches to Michigan and Michigan State on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The losses left NIU with a 2-7 record.

Against Michigan, NIU’s lone point came from the No. 2 doubles contest where Natacha Koprivica and Amy Andersen teamed for a three-set victory.

“We were very close to winning games. It often came down to a single point and unfortunately, Michigan won the majority,” coach Patty Fick said.

Against Michigan State, the Huskies’ lone point came from the No. 3 doubles combo of LeeAnne Milne and Heidi VanLankvelt, who tallied a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 triumph.

Men’s swimming

Although the NIU men’s swimming team might have been weary from training, the Huskies had enough depth to coast home for a 132-92 victory over Loyola Friday at Anderson Hall Pool.

“We swam very well considering how hard we’ve been working in practices,” coach Dave Clark said. “We’ve been really tired and the guys have started to drag in practice, but we really came out well tonight.”

One of the performances which stood out immediately was that of Andy Flodin, who swam to victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a season-best 1:55.67 clocking. From there, NIU proceeded to win eight of the next 11 individual events to claim a 132-65 lead. The Huskies skipped the final two events to give the Ramblers 27 uncontested points.